To the Editor of the Otago Witness.

Otago Witness, Issue 327, 6 March 1858, Page 6

To the Editor of the Otago Witness.

Sir, — Allow me a little space in your columns to reply to two letters appearing in your paper of the 27th inst., containing some gross calumnies against the Captain and Steerage passengers of the Barque "Palmyra." All that your correspondents say respecting the testimonial is positively false and absurdly ridiculous ! ! Fancy, if you can Sir, the steerage passengers being afraid of Captain Tierney, and that they signed a testimonial to him lest, forsooth, he should not land them at Dunedin, or in some way or other annoy them ; as if we had not sense enough to proceed against the Captain had it been necessary. And as to the " peculiar circumstances!!" of which your correspondents speak, we ask in vain for a reply as to what they were. Why, these writers would hope to make the people of Otago believe that either the steerage passengers were void of all common sense and manly independence, or that Captain Tierney was a tyrant, all of which we very modestly assert is untrue. Be it known then to your correspondents, that we neither courted CaptainJTierney's favor, nor feared his power; but we did what certain persons calling themselves gentlemen had not tense enough to do. When we had a reasonable complaint to make we went to him as men, and feeling that civility is becoming in all persons in their intercourse one with another, we evinced the like spirit to Captain Tierney ; and in justice to him be it said, he treated us as men, and to the utmost of hi 3 ability sought to remove the grievance complained of. Had these " gentlemen " acted in the like manner, a like result would have followed. Is a man in command of a ship, with all its responsibilities, to be perpetually annoyed and irritated by a lot of people who have literally nothing to do but find fault? We think not If your correspondents are right, and that Captain Tierney did act "tyrannically" &c. &c, towards them, your readers must then conclude that all the good sense, manly feeling, and independence of spirit were confined to the first and second cabins, which if it be true, we certainly must congratulate the people of Otago in their province being made the principal depot for such a valuable importation. How high these men must stand in their own estimation, to have the audacity to. characterise the testimonial , as a " piece of humbug," because "not signed by I any of the second and only three of the first-class passengers." Now, Sir, we have long ago ceased to bow to class, or caste, qr titlej but we regard men according to the qualities they exhibitintheir actions. Let Capt. Tierney be judged by his deeds, and try his opponents by the same standard. Whatever the former may lose by the ordeal, it is quite certain the latter will gain little in the estimation of all sensible men. But your readers will ask, — Did the steerage passengers endorse all the acts of Captain Tierney 1 By no means. He was too lenient, and most certainly erred in not having certain persons in irons long before we sighted land. Our opinion of the Captain's opponents is simply this. Some of them are proud conceited puppies, having most enlarged ideas of their own importance. Others possessed a squeamish fastidiousness that could never be satisfied. A few, with better sense, were led away by the former. Every sensible per-

son must be aware that on board ship many little matters will arise to disturb the equilibrium of men's minds, all of which may be disposed of by a little patience and forbearance on the part of those affected by them. These "first-class gentlemen" fed at the captain's table until their conduct wai such that he was obliged to withdraw from them. Their second arrangement did not aa&isfy them any better; so they insisted upon having their stores served out to them according to their dietary scale. Not being greatly in love with this; latter method, they wanted to return to a forme r arrangement, and actually sent a letter of apology to the Captain. Judge, then, of the character and disposition of some of these first and second class passengers who denounce the Captain as a tyrant and the steerage passengers as humbugs.

• Now, to assert that persons were afraid of " encountering unpleasantness" and " actual ill-treat-ment," by refusing to sign the testimonial, is both puerile and absurd. We unhesitatingly assert that the testimonial, such as it is, is emphatically " a cordial and legitimate one," and expressed the good feeling of the steerage passengers towards Captain Tierney.

We only wish that every ship possessed such a sober, cautious, and well-disposed commander to conduct it, and in conclusion I say, if ever it should be our lot to cross the ocean again, we wish it to be in a ship navigated by Captain Tierney.

Thanking you for your kindness by inserting these lines, we remain, Yours obediently, J. S. Hawley, A Steerage Passenger. Barque Palmyra, March 2, 1858.